Anyone here running an AR-10 hard?

[brtelec]

I know a lot of folks here own AR-10s. Is anyone here running one really hard?

[M-Tecs]

Define what "running really hard" is?

Pressure, shooting hot, rough handling????? Something else?

[brtelec]

A lot of ammo. I have some friends with Ar-10s, but they do not put more than a couple of hundred rounds a month through them.

[popper]

hundred rounds a month through them That is a lot. What is the real concern?

[Scharfschuetze]

I used the SR25 (AR10 with Leuopold scope) in the Army for a while. My unit used several of them pretty hard without any issues and with good accuracy and reliability using M118 7.62 NATO ammo. They came out of the Blue Grass Arsenal and we had to return them on return to the States, so I have no idea what the long term results of hard use would be. I liked the system and wish I had a personal one... but not enough to buy one.

[brtelec]

A couple hundred rounds a month is nothing. When I shoot my AR15s I will put 200 or 300 rounds through it per day. I was just curious if anyone has found a weakness in the AR10 when put through its paces. I do not own an AR10, but I have an M1A that has about 5500 rounds through it in a year with out a single hiccup. That's averaging about 450 rounds a month. Even filthy it has never failed to feed, fire or eject. Just curious about whether or not an AR10 is something I might wish to own.

[CraigOK]

I wonder if you could make a direct comparison vs an ar15. As long as you keep it lubed well you shouldn't have big problems for quite a while. Here is a list I found
Gas rings
extractor and related parts
firing pin retaining pin (usually gets lost, not broken)
trigger, hammer, and springs
firing pin
cam pin
ejector and parts
bolt
charging handle (breaks or bends)

I use slip2000 EWL or EWL30 for mine. Good stuff.

[brtelec]

So you are not seeing any weak link in comparison to an AR15? Well that is good to know. I have looked at them for a long time and I figured if people are shooting them in calibers like 300 WSM it has to be holding up well. I figured I would get a more unvarnished opinion on this forum. All the AR forums adhere to the "greatest platform ever designed theory" and no one has ever had a failure. Thanks

[mcdaniel.mac]

So you are not seeing any weak link in comparison to an AR15? Well that is good to know. I have looked at them for a long time and I figured if people are shooting them in calibers like 300 WSM it has to be holding up well. I figured I would get a more unvarnished opinion on this forum. All the AR forums adhere to the "greatest platform ever designed theory" and no one has ever had a failure. Thanks

AR10s (or rather, short-action stoners type rifles) aren't as uniform a breed as AR15s. There are at least 3 different magazine types (modified M14/Armalite partern, DPMS/SR25 pattern, and there was an FAL-pattern lower as well), several different and incompatible uppers, even from the same companies based on the length and shape, and there are some proprietary bolts.

I have a DPMS Panther, and no desire to try to run it hard. Some friends have used the DPMS GII Recon model AR10 for 3-gun, and have done pretty with with some modifications. At the end of the day, it's all about the quality of the parts and assembly, the design as a whole is pretty sturdy.

[country gent]

I have my last match rifle here its a Armalite AR-10 while no longer 308 its very reliable and accurate out to 1000yds. It now has 2 uppers for itA krieger barreled upper in 243 with a krieger 1-7 twist barrel for the 105-115grn vld bullets. Barrel length is 26". The second upper is a 26" krieger 1-7 twist barrel in 22-250. Its set up for 80 grn JLKs and vlds. It will almost do 90 grn vlds. Its a very accurate reliable rifle that just plain works day in and day out. Un fortunetly both barrels are short throat life. One thing done when we barreled them was the gas port was moved 4" forward from the 20" position and a special tube turned up.

[brtelec]

I did not realize that the AR10 was not quite as standardized. If I were going to build one from the ground up, I will need to seriously do my home work. I have no aversion to buying one built, but i do not want to pay "Thousands" plural for one. I would certainly consider an Armalite. Thanks for the info. This is exactly what I was looking for.

[B. Lumpkin]

Colt AR901-16s is a good option. Only problem is there is no replacing the barrel unless Colt does it, lol.

[kawasakifreak77]

Several of my friends have had AR10s. Had..

I'm certain there are good ones out there, but loterally every one I've personally dealt with choked. Some were cheapos but some were mid level rifles & one was a POF, sticker was over 2 grand on that one. Wouldn't even shoot M80 ball.

Most were replaced with M1As, all of which have been fine rifles.

[CraigOK]

Several of my friends have had AR10s. Had..

I'm certain there are good ones out there, but loterally every one I've personally dealt with choked. Some were cheapos but some were mid level rifles & one was a POF, sticker was over 2 grand on that one. Wouldn't even shoot M80 ball.

Most were replaced with M1As, all of which have been fine rifles.

Mine is a RRA LAR8 and it shoots ball for shiz too, but with good ammo it shoots the lights out. With hornday 150 fmjbt itll shoot 1.5 moa, with 168 match bullets its half or less. But I'd steer clear of the Rock River one bc theyre almost entirely proprietary. Unless you find one set up just exactly like you want from the factory.

[kawasakifreak77]

No when I mean it wouldn't shoot M80 I mean it wouldn't feed them, or if it did, it would fail to eject. It would not shoot M80 period.

Whereas the cheapest M1A my best friend bought shoots the cheapest M80 I've found into 1.5 moa iron sights without failure.

Personally I have no dog in this fight, I'm a boltgun guy. Just stating what I've seen.

[popper]

Got 2 DPMS originals, no problems once I got the mags adjusted right. Shoot everything better than I can.

[warboar_21]

The AR-10 (Armalite-10) has been around since the early 50s. It competed with the M14 to replace the M1 Garand.
Armalite is the only AR-10 and the others are copies that altered the design slightly so they didn't infringe on design patents.

My AR-10 is a carbine and one of the newer models that accepts the SR-25 pattern magazines. It's a light weight profile barrel and feeds and shoots everything I have ever fed it. Armalite advertises it to shoot at 4moa. Mine will shoot .75" 5 shot groups with the Federal 168gr and 175gr match ammo as well as my 155gr palma match hand loads. Even the American Eagle 150gr fmj shoots just under an inch for 5 shots.

If you are going to build one then more than likely you will be building off the DPMS/SR25 pattern. It seems to be the most widely available when it comes to parts. Problem with building an AR in 308 is the parts are not mil spec like AR-15s so you need to ensure every thing you buy is compatible with system you are building.

My brother built a Franken rifle and had several issues. He ended up having to replace several different parts because they didn't fit right even though they were for the pattern he was building. Since they are not held to one standard some companies will have different tolerances.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

[Electric88]

I did not realize that the AR10 was not quite as standardized. If I were going to build one from the ground up, I will need to seriously do my home work. I have no aversion to buying one built, but i do not want to pay "Thousands" plural for one. I would certainly consider an Armalite. Thanks for the info. This is exactly what I was looking for.

There is very little standardization to the AR10/AR308 platform. AR15s have a mil-spec to adhere to, whereas this is an entirely different beast.

As has been mentioned by others, there are primarily two different platforms to build or buy off of, being Armalite or DPMS. There is far more support for DPMS pattern rifles. You are right though, you will have serious homework to do before building one. I think I spent 3 months just reading on the different platforms, sourcing parts that I wanted, etc. Putting it together initially was no harder than an AR15, but it was finicky as all get out and struggled to cycle. Eventually I figured out the problem with the gas system and corrected it. Ever since then, it has performed flawlessly with any type of ammunition fed to it (including the cheap military grade ammo) and done so with accuracy greater than what I am capable of. No more problems cycling, etc. I would easily do it again, just with the knowledge that they can require some fine tuning after building.

[M-Tecs]

As stated the AR10 platform did not start with a milspec base. Since the M110 was adopted and a milspec standard has been established I would recommend mags and components that work with the M110 standards.

[popper]

"Stoner' rifle was originally 308. Only thing 'Mil spec' for the ar15 is the dimensioned dwgs. Yes there are metal and treatment processes. So they really are 'built to print'. 308s are built to various 'prints' Amalite had the originals. Really no different than any other gun, some are better than others.